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Mexico Pitches Oil Sector Overhaul to Skeptical Audiences

By

José de Córdoba and

Laurence Iliff

Aug. 14, 2013 7:10 p.m. ET

MEXICO CITY—The Mexican government has begun trying to sell its historic proposal to open the oil sector to private companies to two very different but crucial audiences: A suspicious public that thinks the reform goes too far, and skeptical investors who think it doesn't go far enough.

Foreign Minister José Antonio Meade focused Wednesday on convincing investors of the proposal's merits. In an interview, he said that the measures would create the legal framework necessary to attract the foreign capital and expertise...